REGENERATING OUR COASTS
Coastal wetland restoration can be challenging as impacted areas may have lost key hydrological or soil features that are needed for plant seeds and roots to establish and thrive. In these scenarios, restoration via natural revegetation may not be possible.
Biodegradable structures that slow water flow and encourage soil accumulation while also mimicking nature’s design provide a solution for coastal restoration challenges.
Thanks to everyone who joined us on 20 October for a day of planting and measuring mangrove seedlings! You can check out some of the highlights from the day below.
BESE-elements®, produced by BESE in the Netherlands, is a 3D lattice made of compostable potato starch from industrial waste. These structures degrade in 2-10 years depending on the material and the ecosystem in which it is used. This sustainable, non-toxic lattice mimics key coastal soil conditions that promote seedling and root establishment.
For example, the structure slows water movement, allowing for soil accumulation and seed capture. Roots of seedlings or co-transplanted plants are able to establish as the structures stabilise the soil. BESE-elements have been shown to promote revegetation of seagrass and saltmarsh ecosystems in Europe and North America.
Given the extent of coastline conversion in the last 200 years as well as the push for restoring blue carbon ecosystems, there is enormous potential for this technology to facilitate and accelerate coastal restoration practice in Australia.
Find out about BESE-elements at https://www.bese-products.com/
This 3-year program is funded Beach Energy.
In October the #ReGenOurCoasts team held a second citizen science event at our trial restoration site in Corinella, Western Port. This time,Read more
Regenerating Our Coasts is trialling an active restoration method for coastal wetlands along the Victorian coastline in Australia. The work entails theRead more
Regenerating Our Coasts is moving into an exciting phase – mangrove seeds planted into our trial plots over summer have germinated andRead more
We recently celebrated World Wetlands Day. This year the Convention on Wetlands wants to focus on efforts to reverse the global trendRead more
Last week, the BCL team had engaging discussions with Beach Energy employees about the importance of coastal wetlands and blue carbon forRead more
Scientists use 3D-printed biodegradable structures to halt erosion (ABC Gippsland, March 2023)
Photo credit: Shan Hemmings
